Dutch government takes control of Chinese-owned chipmaker Nexperia in 'highly exceptional' move

The Dutch authorities has taken power of Nexperia, a Chinese-owned semiconductor shaper based successful the Netherlands, successful an bonzer determination to guarantee a capable proviso of its chips remains disposable successful Europe amid rising planetary commercialized tensions.

Nexperia, a subsidiary of China's Wingtech Technology, specializes successful the high-volume accumulation of chips utilized successful automotive, user electronics and different industries, making it captious for maintaining Europe's technological proviso chains. 

On Sunday evening, the Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs revealed that it had invoked the "Goods Availability Act" connected the institution successful September successful bid "to forestall a concern successful which the goods produced by Nexperia (finished and semi-finished products) would go unavailable successful an emergency."

Following the announcement from the Hague, Wingtech plunged its maximum regular bounds of 10% connected the Shanghai Stock Exchange.

The Goods Availability Act allows the Hague to intervene successful backstage companies to guarantee the availability of captious goods successful mentation for exigency situations, and its usage comes amid escalations successful the U.S.-China commercialized war.

The authorities connection said the "highly exceptional" determination had been made aft the ministry had observed "recent and acute signals of superior governance shortcomings and actions" wrong Nexperia.

"These signals posed a menace to the continuity and safeguarding connected Dutch and European ungraded of important technological cognition and capabilities. Losing these capabilities could airs a hazard to Dutch and European economical security," it said, identifying automotives arsenic peculiarly vulnerable.

Governance changes

In a corporate filing dated Oct.13, lodged with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, Wingtech confirmed Nexperia was nether impermanent outer absorption and had been asked to suspend changes to the company's assets, concern oregon unit for up to a year, according to a Google translation.

Wingtech president Zhang Xuezheng had been instantly suspended from his roles arsenic enforcement manager of Nexperia Holdings and non-executive manager of Nexperia aft the ministerial order, according to the filing.

The filing added that Nexperia's regular operations volition continue, with the interaction of the measures not yet quantifiable.

"The Dutch government's determination to frost Nexperia's planetary operations nether the pretext of 'national security' constitutes excessive involution driven by geopolitical bias, alternatively than a fact-based hazard assessment," Wingtech said successful a deleted WeChat post, which was archived and translated by Chinese argumentation blog Pekingnology.

It added that since it acquired Nexperia successful 2019, Wingtech "has strictly abided by the laws and regulations of each jurisdictions wherever it operates, maintaining transparent operations and dependable governance," and employs "thousands of section staff" done R&D and manufacturing sites successful the Netherlands, Germany and Britain.

The Netherlands' determination comes aft Beijing tightened its restrictions connected the export of uncommon world elements and magnets Thursday, which could interaction Europe's automotive industry. 

The determination could besides further strain commercialized relations betwixt China and the Netherlands, pursuing years of restrictions connected Dutch institution ASML's exports of precocious semiconductor manufacturing instrumentality to China.

In 2023, the Netherlands had besides investigated Nexperia's projected acquisition of spot steadfast startup Nowi, though the woody was later approved.